Lien filed against former tax commissioner

Restitution hearing for Carolyn Brown still pending.

Former Liberty County Tax Commissioner Carolyn Brown and two attorneys, who once represented her, disagree about how they parted.

The two Savannah attorneys, Abda Lee Quillian and Michael Edwards, say Brown dismissed them. Brown, who is in custody at the DeKalb County jail, says she didn't.

However they parted, the attorneys want to be paid for their services and expenses -- and have since filed a lien on Brown's property.

Meanwhile, a hearing on restitution for the former tax commissioner convicted of stealing $1 million in taxpayers funds is still pending.

Last month, Atlantic Circuit Superior Court Judge A. "Ronnie" Rahn sentenced Brown to 30 years in prison. The sentence came two weeks after a DeKalb County jury found her guilty of theft and racketeering. Brown's trial was moved from Liberty County to DeKalb because of pre-trial publicity.

She was convicted of stealing $1 million in taxpayer funds between 1995 and 2000.

Rahn delayed a restitution hearing, but court officials expected to hold it within a month of the sentencing.

So far, the restitution hearing hasn't happened and an official date isn't scheduled. Also pending is a motion her latest attorney, George Lawson, has filed for a new trial.

Rahn has asked DeKalb County court officials to schedule hearings for both matters on July 6. The date has been penciled in, but isn't set in stone, according to the DeKalb County Superior Clerk of Courts office.

Brown has continually maintained that she is innocent of any wrongdoing and believed she was entitled to collect the money as fees and commissions.

Prosecutors say the former tax commissioner owes $1. 2 million in restitution. Her attorney wants an evidentiary hearing on the issue.

In a letter to Brown, filed in Liberty County Superior Court, her former attorneys said Brown had paid them about $15,000 but still owed at least $25,000.

The attorneys told Brown they were willing to settle the unpaid balance with a payment of $17,000, if she would pay within 10 days of her dismissal of them.

She hasn't paid and they haven't released the lien.

Bryan/Liberty reporter Anne Cordeiro can be reached at 756-5566 or cordeiro@savannahnow.net.